By Shari Barrett
Kim’s Convenience, written by and starring Ins Choi and directed by Weyni Mengesha, is the hilarious and heartwarming award-winning comedy drama about a Korean family-run corner store that inspired the popular Netflix hit series. It began life as a play when it originally premiered in 2011 at the Toronto Fringe Festival, with a larger production mounted the following year, directed by Weyni Mengesha, at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto which became the highest-grossing play in the company’s entire history. The show later had productions Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, and Washington D.C.
The production’s current run at the Ahmanson Theatre through April 19 began in January 2025 with the same cast and director, and has stops at A.C.T. in San Francisco, Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, The Old Globe in San Diego, and the McCarter in Princeton.
But there is a special reason to see the play in Los Angeles as our city is home to the biggest K-Town in North America, making the City of Angels an important place of welcome. In fact, during the talkback with cast members after the performance I attended, several shared how emotional they got when visiting K-Town and being able to read so many signs and hear people speaking in their native language, making them feel so at home here. And since Kim’s Convenience acknowledges how we are all so similar more than we are different, with everyone longing for a safe home, loving family, and a chance to succeed on their own terms, I guarantee you will see aspects of your own life reflected in the play.
In Kim’s Convenience, Mr. Kim (“Appa” portrayed lovingly by playwright Ins Choi) works hard to support his wife Umma (Esther Chung) and children Janet and Jung (Kelly Seo and Ryan Jinn) with his Toronto convenience store in the now-rough area called Regent Park. While his daughter still works in the store as she becomes more adept as a photographer, his son has already left the nest for reasons unclear until near the end of the play. Appa is at a crossroads not knowing who may be willing to run the store after he retires, and then gets an offer to buy it from real estate agent Mr. Lee (business suit-clad Brandon McKnight), whom Appa welcomes as his “black friend with the Korean last name,” because a Walmart is planning to open nearby and will threaten the future of the family business. Of course, Appa turns down the offer, not wanting the location to become even more condos or take away his pride of owning his own business.
As he evaluates his future while facing both a changing neighborhood landscape and the gap between his values and those of his Canada-born son and daughter, the 90-minute play shares a universal story about immigrant parents learning to cope their children whose values and ideas of success do not match their own. “Kim’s Convenience has the universal appeal of an immigrant story: one generation comes over, the next generation grows up in the new country, and the two clash,” said Choi. “I hope it serves as a reminder that there’s a whole life behind the counter at a convenience store – a life full of dignity, joy and dreams.”
Ethiopian-Canadian director Weyni Mengesha, a first-generation Canadian herself, served as the artistic director of the Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto from 2019-2025 where she directed the first staging of Kim’s Convenience to much acclaim. She brilliantly cast the play with four Korean actors, three of whom were born there, whose own lives reflect the characters they portray, making the story and all the conflicting emotions within it come alive with authenticity. This is especially true for Appa and his daughter Janet (captivatingly played by Choi and Kelly Seo) who disagree on almost everything except their love for one another.
I especially enjoyed watching Janet learn to appreciate her father’s values as he offers her guidance about why he runs the store the way he does, demanding she do the same. Contributing to those lessons are visits from multi-character wonder Brandon McKnight as Rich (a popular local young man who Appa knows will shoplift from the store), Mike (whose comedic, fast-paced interactions with Appa add humor into his everyday life), the forementioned real estate agent Mr. Lee, and Alex (a police officer and childhood friend of Janet and Jung) whose flirtatious banter with Janet puts ideas into Appa’s head about what may be the next best thing for his daughter, much to Janet and Alex’s embarrassment. These daily life scenes highlight Appa’s prejudices, friendships, and the family’s community ties to Toronto.
Esther Chung adds to the religious spirit ingrained in the family with her daily visits to church to pray for her son, moments which are both heartwarming and heartbreaking. And when Jung returns home seeking guidance from his parents on how to best live the rest of his life, the play’s theme about the importance of unconditional family love rings true.
Kudos to the amazing technical team, especially Set Designer Joanna Yu whose full-stage, stock-filled convenience store adds so much realism to the play, Costume Designer Ming Wong for knowingly matching characters to their personalities and roles, Lighting Designer Wen-Ling Liao, Sound Designer Fan Zhang, and especially Projection Designer Nicole Eun-Ju Bell who adds photos of Choi’s real family in Toronto and within their family-owned store on the brick walls above Kim’s Convenience store before the play’s action begins as a loving way to honor the people who inspired the play’s creation.
Presented by Soulpepper Theatre Company and Adam Blanshay Productions in association with American Conservatory Theater, Kim’s Convenience performances continue at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles 90012 through April 19 on Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Thursday, April 9 at 2 p.m. All shows are performed in English with projected Korean translation.
Tickets prices begin at $40.25, available online at https://www.centertheatregroup.org, by phone to Audience Services at (213) 628-2772, or at the onsite Center Theatre Group Box Office at the Ahmanson. Group tickets are available at https://www.centertheatregroup.org/tickets/groups-and-corporate-offers. Center Theatre Group offers services to accommodate persons requiring mobility, vision, and hearing access. For more information, please email tickets@ctgla.org or call Audience Services.
